The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for measurement of projectile ballistics, and, more particularly, is concerned with quick, automatic and simultaneous measurements of speed, dispersion, attack angle and shape of projectiles without interfering with the projectiles' trajectories.
Conventional measurements of various flight characteristics of projectiles such as pitch, yaw and dispersion involve high-speed photography, such as flash X-ray and Schlerin photography, and cardboard yaw screens. Each approach has its disadvantages. Although high-speed photography may give a useful visual representation of a projectile in flight, data reduction is tedious and turnaround time is slow. Further, the cost of attaining this data is high for a large number of projectiles.
The cardboard yaw screen approach involves examining a cardboard pierced by projectiles for determining projectiles' pitch, yaw, and dispersion. Determination of pitch and yaw is accomplished by measuring with a template the ellipticity of the hole formed by the projectile--a time consuming and coarse measurement. The cardboard or like material is limited in the number of projectiles that it may accept and the technique may interfere with the projectiles' flight.
The present invention obviates the disadvantages of the prior art and offers surprising new advantages over the prior art.